I am a very strong proponent of feeding fully-claustural queens. Who knows if they were properly fed in the nest before going on their nuptual flight. I dont feed them often, at most once a month, and generally only carbs (honey, as they generally drink it clean so there is no chance at mold). Give the ants the best chance to succeed. If they are running low on reserves they have a higher chance of dying/failing at raising the first gen.
This is my first year, but so far the only one that has died and not laid eggs for me (out of 9) is the one I did NOT feed. Take that as you will.
Just because they can survive months without food, doesn't mean its good for them!

Also, I have yet to have one eat its eggs. It would make sense they wouldn't eat them if they are already full. As generally they will eat them to not waste food in case they need to run, if they are full there is no reason to eat them to store it.

Exciting news! Today I checked up on the queen and I saw a cocoon with a head poking out of it! The cocoon looked all shriveled up and pale as well. The queen was also guarding it very closely.

So after that, I checked a couple hours later, and saw that the worker had fully emerged. It was cute to see it stumbling around the nest, learning how to walk. The worker was still very pale. I am going to check up on it again in the tommorow to see the new fully developed worker.

I will also do another update with a picture tommorow so you can all see the worker as well.

I also would like to apologize for not updating last week. I didn’t do it as there was not really anything to update on, and nothing had changed.